A global statistical assessment of designing silicon-based solar cells for geographical markets

Abstract

Here, we first visualize the achievable global efficiency for single-junction crystalline silicon cells and demonstrate how different regional markets have radically varied requirements for Si wafer thickness and injection level. Our findings showed that 219 g/kW of polysilicon can be conserved while producing slightly more electricity when c- Si cells are manufactured based on the global geographical market instead of standard test conditions. Then, we investigate the bifacial silicon cell and show that its optimal wafer thickness should be 1.67–2.89 times thicker than its monofacial counterpart, depending on the geographical region. Further, we study a double-junction two-terminal Si-based cell, reevaluate its theoretical limit as 42.8%, and illustrate that globally, tandem cells’ efficiency will only be slightly decreased when significantly reducing the bottom cell Si wafer thickness (−0.3%/mm). The outcomes of this study offer a blueprint to strategically design solar cells for target geographic markets, ensuring the conservation of substantial polysilicon volumes.